Since returning from a groin injury that forced him to miss seven games, LeBron James has struggled a bit offensively. The Los Angeles Lakers’ superstar had averaged just 18.7 points on just 43.4% shooting and 22.7% from 3-point range.
But facing off against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors seemed to spark James back into gear as he had his best overall performance since returning from injury. LeBron finished with 33 points, five rebounds and nine assists while shooting 10-of-15 from the field and 5-of-8 from deep, but it wasn’t enough as the Lakers fell to the Warriors by seven.
Groin injuries can be tricky and linger for some time, so LeBron needing a few games to get back to normal is understandable and the Lakers star admitted that this is the best he’s felt physically since returning to the court.
“That was the best I felt before the injury for sure,” James said after the game. “I just tried to press, get downhill, my rhythm, as far as my jump shot felt pretty good today, I was shooting from the free throw line extremely well, and I’m a bit late, but it’s probably the best physically I felt. So hopefully, I can build off of that.”
If the Lakers have any chance to make a run to the NBA Finals, they will need LeBron operating at his best. Even if he isn’t leading the team scoring wise, he does so many other things that unlocks the Lakers on both sides of the floor.
Getting back to normal from a physical standpoint is huge for LeBron and he played just under 40 minutes against the Warriors, which is a great sign as well. James operating at his highest level is paramount to the success of this Lakers team that still has some gelling to do, but now only have six games to do it before the playoffs start.
Lakers’ LeBron James discusses challenges facing the Warriors
LeBron James and the Lakers could very well be seeing these same Warriors in the playoffs and if that is the case the Lakers will need to be better to take them down. It was a rough first half offensively that cost the Lakers and LeBron broke down the challenges of facing the Warriors.
“I mean, it’s always a challenge when you play Golden State,” he said. “It’s been like that for over a decade, probably since 2014 when they started to get it going. We know it’s always a challenge against them. We just gotta keep balance all game and just try to figure it out, which we did. Offensively, we were really good, especially in the second half. We had 69 points in the second half. That was not the reason we weren’t able to win.”
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